Abstract: Coal-bearing kaolinite in Ordos，Inner Mongolia，was treated with concentrated sulfuric acid under microwave ex- posure to improve its surface area.The optimum conditions were confirmed by adjusting the reaction temperature and reaction time.Comparing with the traditional modification method，this one could complete the modification in one step and reduced the reaction temperature and saved the reaction time.The obtained sample was characterized by X-ray diffraction analysis， N2 adsorption-desorption analysis，elemental analysis，Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy，and transmission electron mi- croscopy.Results showed that the obtained sample was the porous structure material mainly with mesoporous and much micro- porous，the surface area increased from 13 m2/g to 299 m2/g，the maximum adsorbed percentage for methylene blue increa- sed from 73.7% to 91.1%.Owing to its high surface area，the synthesized material has the potential uses in adsorption.

Key words: microwave, coal-bearing kaolinite, modification, surface area, adsorption